Back To The Future
by chocolate chip wookiee
Summary: A mysterious duo arrives through the Stargate. Who are they? Will they find their way home with the help of SG-1? Better than the summary, I swear. Canon Sam/Jack. Read and review, please.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**__ I guess you already know that, but for the record, I don't own Stargate or any of the characters. So, no copyright infringement intended._

_**Spoilers:**__ Set in season 7 before Chimera, so up until then._

_**Pairings: **__Come on, do you really have to ask? Sam/Jack as always. There might be hints of Daniel/Janet in future chapters, I'm not sure yet._

_**Rating:**__ T to be safe._

_**A/N: **__This was written with the intention of maintaining the status quo between Sam and Jack, so don't expect any AU. I'm sorry people, that's what it is._

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**Back To The Future**

"Unscheduled off-world activation! General Hammond to the control room!"

"It's SG-5, sir!" Sergeant Walter Harriman informed his CO as the General hurriedly made his way down the stairs.

"They're two hours early," Hammond commented, a streak of worry evident in his voice. "Open the iris."

"Yes, sir, opening iris."

The metal plate covering the Gate swooshed open to reveal a shimmering pool of blue, which was in fact the event horizon of an incoming wormhole.

The General watched with relief as all members of SG-5 made their way through, apparently unharmed. The last one to emerge, or so Hammond had thought, was Colonel Harper, commander of SG-5. But as soon as he was clear, Harper started gesturing in direction of the observation window, signaling the General to keep the iris open.

Just as Hammond opened his mouth to ask what the hell was that about, a man and a woman emerged from the puddle. Sergeant Harriman looked up at his CO, unsure about what to do, but the older man's eyes were glued on the newcomers. They were both dressed in what seemed to be standard issue BDUs, yet the General was positive he'd never seen them before.

The first thought to cross his mind was the obvious, they'd had aliens posing as military personnel before, and protocol was very clear on how to proceed in a situation like that. But the way SG-5 gathered around the couple, presumably to check on them, had him wonder whether they, too, weren't under some sort of alien influence. God knew it wouldn't have been the first time. Which meant they would require medical attention. And the woman had apparently suffered a serious injury, for she was leaning heavily against the man for support and despite her obvious effort to stand straight and hold her head up, her pale face was creased with pain.

Before anyone else could start asking questions, the General's command programming took over.

"Security and medical teams to the Gate room!"

o-O-o

Later that day Major Samantha Carter, along with the rest of SG-1, was sitting in the briefing room, waiting for General Hammond to show up. Daniel was trying to cover a monstrous yawn by bringing a steaming mug of coffee close to his lips. _He'd been up all night working on his translation again_, Sam thought. Colonel O'Neill was sitting restless next to her, fidgeting with a pen and complaining about not being able to finish his lunch, and Teal'c was impassive as always. Just as Sam's thoughts started to wander to a new power generator they'd found on P4X 673 the day before and that had kept her awake all night and she still couldn't figure it out, she heard General Hammond enter the room.

"As you were," he ordered before Sam or anyone else could stand up to greet him. Right after him, doctor Janet Fraiser came in and took a seat. Sam flashed her friend a questioning glance, Janet wasn't usually present during mission briefings, but the doctor seemed preoccupied. She was likely to have a good reason, too, SG-1 wasn't scheduled to go off-world for another day or so and mission briefings this much in advance certainly weren't common practice.

"Early this morning," the General began in a serious tone, overlooking his flagship team. "SG-5 discovered two humans on P7Y 248. They brought them back through the Gate and I had..."

"Sir, what's that to do with us? They found'em, they deal with'em." Colonel Jack O'Neill rudely interrupted the General, which would ordinarily be considered insubordination, but Colonel O'Neill was no ordinary officer. He was no ordinary man. Nope, to her, he was anything but that.

All of a sudden, Sam was painfully aware of the man sitting next to her, so close that they were almost touching. In that single unguarded moment, her mind was instantaneously flooded with images of her CO, of everything they'd been through together and how their relationship had changed over the past seven years. They'd started out as colleagues back in the early days of the Stargate programme when she'd felt the constant need to prove herself to him, to earn his respect, partly because she hero-worshipped him a little bit after the first Abydos mission, but mostly because he was a guy, another tough Air Force officer who apparently didn't believe a woman, a scientist, could be just as good a soldier as himself. And she managed to earn his respect, as both soldier and scientist. And, a tiny voice deep in her head whispered, as a woman, too.

She'd known from the very beginning she shouldn't be thinking about him as anything but her CO, and for quite some time she'd even been reasonably successful, despite their frequent friendly flirting and occasional glances and smiles. She wasn't really sure about the breaking point, the exact moment when she'd started seeing him as Jack rather than Colonel O'Neill, someone she would have liked to spend time with even if they weren't working together. She suspected it may have had something to do with their trip to Washington some five years ago. When she'd taken him on a tour around the city, because of his claim he'd never really had seen it properly, although she'd suspected otherwise; but then what harm was there in two colleagues, friends, taking a nice long walk around the monuments and talking about other things than just work. _Yeah, right, what harm_, she chided herself. Like it hadn't all gone downhill from there.

"…and they claim to be members of the SGC," General Hammond concluded with a sigh, his pale blue eyes deadly serious.

Sam flinched, having realized that her mind had wandered away and she'd obviously missed an important part of the briefing. This wasn't like her, but considering she hadn't slept for the past twenty-two or so hours and her last decent meal had been a bowl of cereal for breakfast the day before, she was still doing pretty well. Except for this minor lapse in concentration, that was. Daniel gave her a questioning look from across the table but she ignored it, her attention entirely on the briefing.

"Okay, here's a question!" the Colonel interrupted again, clearly angered by the fact that he was dragged away from his lunch to listen to this. "What _reason _do we have to trust them?"

Everyone in the room turned to the General, expecting an answer. Even though none of them would admit it out loud, the Colonel had voiced their common concern. Hammond just nodded once, acknowledging his 2IC's question and then nodded at Janet. "Doctor?"

Janet stood up immediately. _Whatever this is about, it has to be big_, Sam thought.

"First, I had to treat their injuries. The man," she paused, rummaging through her notes to find his name. "Mark Bishop, only had minor scratches and mild burns. His companion, however, hadn't been so lucky. Apart from some second degree burns on her chest, she suffered a severe injury to her right leg; judging by the nature of the wound, I'd say it was caused by a plasma weapon of some sort."

"Which would be consistent with their story," Daniel noted. "Right?" He added briskly as he noticed the Colonel eyeing him skeptically. Sam figured this wasn't the right time to ask what exactly their story was.

Janet ignored Daniel's remark and continued. "After that I took blood samples to run DNA tests as well as samples of the fabric their uniforms are made of. Just to be sure."

"And?" Colonel O'Neill asked, unconsciously leaning forward. Janet seemed to have caught his attention.

After just a moment Janet replied. "They're human, alright."

"And? But? So? Therefore?" Jack inquired, back in the typical O'Neill mode.

"Well, I analyzed their blood for traces of any elements or substances that would suggest extra terrestrial origin." Janet paused again. Somewhere in a far corner of her brain, Sam wondered if Janet realized what effect these momentary hesitations had on her audience. "There are none."

"Which means what exactly?" Daniel asked, bemused.

"Which means chances are pretty good that whoever they are, they were conceived, born and raised on Earth." Sam concluded and sent a barely noticeable reassuring smile to her obviously nervous doctor friend.

"And that's not all. Right now, I only have preliminary results of the fabric analysis. The materials are similar to those we use today, only they contain substances that we are unfamiliar with. Yet." Janet finished with a sigh.

"Are you suggesting they're from the future?" Sam asked incredulously.

Everyone looked at her as if a third eye had just grown on her forehead. Colonel O'Neill gave her a look that was one of both confusion and concern. Sam just shrugged a little in response.

"Well, that's what they're saying." Janet answered and although she didn't say it out loud, Sam could hear the 'Duh!' hanging at the end of the sentence all too well.

"Um, they say they're military, right?" Daniel rushed to save the situation, breaking the awkward silence. "So, uh, shouldn't they have dog tags or something that could… you know?" he trailed off, gesturing wildly with his hand to compensate for the lack of words.

Janet sighed again, apparently struggling to keep her report neutral. "As for that, the man's dog tags identified him as Lieutenant Colonel Mark Bishop, all data exactly the same as our test results."

Colonel O'Neill opened his mouth to say something but before he could do so, Janet continued.

"It gets better, the tags also give his birth date." She took a deep breath. "March 24, 2004."

The room fell silent as everyone tried to take in the information. Whoever these people were, they had certainly put themselves through a whole lot of trouble to make their story believable. Either that, or…

Sam was the first to speak up, as a scientist she had to at least admit it was possible. Not to mention her personal experience with time travel, the memory of which was still very vivid. "What about the woman? Do we have any means of identification?"

"She claims to be Bishop's subordinate, but no, no tags."

"Hah! There it goes!" Colonel O'Neill said with a victorious expression, waving his hands in front of him and finally pointing his index finger at the doctor. Satisfied that he'd made his point, he leaned back into the chair.

"I don't think so, Colonel," Janet opposed. "As I said before, the woman has some burns on her chest that might have been caused by hot metal. If her tags had been hit by a plasma weapon, she would have had to take them off."

Daniel remained skeptical. "That sounds a little too convenient, don't you think?"

"They may, however, be telling the truth," Teal'c, who'd been sitting in silence up until this moment, concluded.

General Hammond stood up. "And since you, SG-1, have first hand experience with time travel, I suggest you go see for yourselves."

_To be continued...

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_Hope you liked the first chapter, if so, please, let me know. And if not... well, I'd like to know what could be improved._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_ _Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update, but I really couldn't have picked a worse time to write this piece even if I tried really hard. Things are pretty hectic for me right now, school and everything... This chapter was kind of hard for me to write, so feedback would be greatly appreciated. Although it may take some time for me to get back to you, I will. So, enough of my babbling, read on! :)

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**Chapter 2**

Their way to the observation room was silent, everyone used the time to concede the information about their newest guests. Sam's brain was already going over the possible explanations, but coming up empty. She was tired and in desperate need of a good night's sleep, which she wasn't too likely to get. Not if these people were telling the truth. Or if they weren't, for that matter. They would still have had to be dealt with and who'd be better suited for the job than SG-1.

She looked around, searching the faces of her teammates. Daniel, who was walking next to her was deep in thought, his expression changing from a mild frown to a deeply worried one and she could almost hear the thoughts racing through his head. Suddenly, Daniel looked up straight at Sam, startling her a little with the intensity of his gaze. She gave him a faint smile. Daniel just nodded briefly and his gaze fell back to the floor.

Sam turned her head to Colonel O'Neill. He was walking fast, eyes fixed on an invisible point straight ahead of him. His face, unlike Daniel's, didn't betray anything of what was going on in his head. There was a deep crease between his brows and his brown eyes seemed even darker than usual, but other than that, there was nothing to give Sam any clue as to what he was thinking. She knew him well and sometimes even thought she could read him, but right now, she could only guess.

She shrugged away the uncomfortable feeling this brought to her and let her gaze slip to Teal'c. In spite of his size, the Jaffa was moving surprisingly lightly. His expression was indifferent, the mask of a stoic warrior firmly in place. But Sam knew him well enough to notice the clenched jaw and tense muscles that told their own tale.

In a strange way, it was almost comforting to know that they were as worried as she was, each of them trying to find an explanation. But she knew that when the time came, they would all look to her to provide one. _There goes the comfort_, Sam thought as she realized she would have to disappoint them. Somehow everyone thought she always had all the answers, ready to save them, as Colonel O'Neill once put it, by pulling brilliant ideas out of her butt. She smiled internally at the memory. And the trust they all had in her, that _he_ had in her. _C'mon, Carter, think positive, you haven't even heard their story yet_. Yeah, she would figure it out.

When they reached the observation room door, General Hammond, who'd been leading the way from the briefing room, motioned for the doctor to enter first. Janet nodded briskly and walked through the door, clapping of her heels echoing loudly in the corridor, and they all fell into step behind her with the General closing the line.

The room was dark, except for a bright circle of light, in which stood two beds, one of them empty, the other one occupied by someone, presumably the woman, because there was a man standing right next to it. His head was bent low, listening intently to the woman's frantic whisper accompanied by gesticulation so wild that he occasionally had to dodge a hand flying dangerously close to his face. He was so engulfed in her speech that he failed to notice they were no longer alone.

Colonel O'Neill cleared his throat, causing the man's head to jerk up as he turned around and quickly snapped to attention upon seeing the officers. The woman cut off mid-sentence, her mouth still open slightly as if she were to continue at any moment, hands frozen in the air, her eyes wide open. Only a fraction of a second later she regained control, folded her arms neatly on her chest and arranged her features into a perfect poker face.

The man clicked his heels and saluted briskly. "Lieutenant Colonel Mark Bishop, United States Air Force, sir!" There was a brief pause. "And this is Captain," he shot the woman a barely noticeable glance which she didn't return. "Captain Laura O'Brien."

Janet ignored his introduction and gave him an evil eye just before scolding him for not resting in his own bed, then walked over to the woman and started to check a clipboard hanging on the bedframe, while the rest of them just stood there, eyeing the guests suspiciously.

Bishop stood unmoving in perfect attention, looking straight at the General.

Finally, Hammond spoke up. "I'm Major General George Hammond, commander of this facility. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Carter, Doctor Jackson and Teal'c. They're here to determine whether or not you're telling the truth."

Sam noticed an ironic smirk that appeared on the woman's face for the briefest moment.

As if on cue, all of SG-1 made a few steps towards the couple. As Sam came closer to the brightly lit area, she could take a better look at both visitors. The man was in his mid-thirties, tall and even handsome, if you liked the type. His dark hair was cropped short in a standard military haircut and the khaki uniform brought out the green of his eyes. There was a mild crease between his brows which made him look like he'd seen things he'd rather forget. His mouth was resolute, its corners crooked in what in Sam's opinion was supposed to be a carefully neutral expression, but came out as more of an ironic half-smile. _Yeah,_ Sam thought. _He sure looks like a Colonel_.

The young woman, what was her name again? Ah, Captain O'Brien, couldn't have been much over twenty-five years of age, but she had spunk, Sam could tell. Her form was slender, yet athletic, tensed muscles could be seen where her arms weren't covered by the loose fitting infirmary gown or blanket. As she was lying on the bed, there was no way of telling exactly how tall she was, but Sam estimated she could be 5'6ish, maybe more. Her slightly-above-the-shoulders long, wavy, brownish blonde hair was loose on the pillow and she was looking right at them. Hell, she was glaring! And what a glare, those dark brown piercing eyes could make one feel uncomfortable. Something about them felt vaguely familiar but Sam just couldn't point a finger at it, so she put it aside. Anyway, they both looked like people who'd been through a lot. Even prior to this.

"Doctor, are they ready for questioning?" Hammond asked.

Janet's eyes flipped from the chart she'd been studying to O'Brien and then Bishop, who gave a slight nod. She cleared her throat. "The, uh, Colonel is ready, sir, so as long as you don't keep him there too long, I have no objections. But I'd like Captain O'Brien to rest for at least two more days."

O'Brien bent her head to hide the exasperation in her face.

Janet didn't fail to notice that, but continued speaking to the General. "SG-5 reported they were found two clicks from the 'gate. Frankly, sir, I don't understand how she made it there. Or back, for that matter." She shot Bishop a look of reprimand.

He shrugged apologetically. "We offered to carry her, but she insisted she'd walk."

"Huh, sounds like someone I know," Jack quipped, giving Sam a meaningful look. She blushed lightly and quickly avoided his eyes.

"Alright," Hammond nodded, ignoring Jack's remark. "Colonel, Teal'c, take him to the interrogation room."

Teal'c put a hand on Bishop's shoulder and guided him from the room. Sam saw him glance briefly at the woman, who nodded almost imperceptibly in response.

As the three men turned to leave, Sam fell into step behind them.

"Ah, not so fast, Major!" Janet stopped her by placing a hand on Sam's upper arm. She then nodded to her and O'Brien. "I want you both to get at least full twelve hours of sleep. You need to rest," she added softly, locking Sam's eyes.

"I'm fine!" The two women replied in unison. Sam's startled blue eyes met an equally bemused pair of brown ones. Colonel O'Neill chuckled at the door and then said something that Sam couldn't understand.

Janet sighed dramatically. "I could make that an order, you know."

Sam sent a pleading to look to General Hammond, but he just shook his head and turned to leave. "I will see you tomorrow, Major."

That was it, Sam knew she couldn't defy orders and the desire to sleep was creeping upon her once again, tugging at her eyelids. "Okay, twelve hours. But you know, there are other people who need their sleep, too." And with that she nodded meaningfully at Daniel.

He was standing quietly in the corner, staring dead ahead, his mind obviously elsewhere.

Janet eyed him and smiled softly. "I'll take care of that." She sobered. "But first, I want you to go to your quarters. Now, Sam, or I'll have an Airman escort you there." And with that, she turned to the occupant of the bed. "Alright...Captain... Do you want something to help you sleep? Although with all you've been through I don't think you really need it."

O'Brien smiled politely. "I'm okay, thank you, Doc."

"Very well, good night then." Janet returned the smile and turned to walk to Daniel, bumping into Sam who was still standing behind her.

She smiled apologetically and muttering "I know, sorry," left the observation room. The last thing she saw was Janet gently placing her hand at Daniel's arm, quietly telling him to get some sleep.

o-O-o

When she awoke hours later in the not-so-comfortable bed in her quarters, Sam noticed with surprise how well she was feeling. She must have been tired beyond the point where she could realize it, she thought.

Sam slowly rolled herself to her back and lazily stretched her arms and legs before opening her eyes. Unable to focus, she blinked a few times until the tiny crack in the grey concrete ceiling gained sharp features.

After that, she rolled back to her side to look at the alarm clock. 0630. Okay, that wasn't so bad, she'd only slept for what? Nineteen hours? With an appreciative smile she acknowledged the file folder someone had put on the nightstand. She reached for it and shifted herself to a more comfortable reading position. Sam flipped open the folder and a small piece of paper fell out and landed on the dark blanket. She reached for it and turned it around to see the words scribbled on it in a rather messy handwriting.

_Morning, Carter. Briefing at 0730. Don't be late._

Sam smiled and put the note carefully on the nightstand. 0730, that meant she still had an hour, she decided to take a shower first and go over the file later, perhaps during breakfast.

She set the folder aside, pulled the covers away and swung her legs over the bedside. Chills ran through her as the cold air touched her bare skin, while at the same moment she realised that all she was wearing was a short-sleeved black t-shirt and her panties. Suddenly the memory of the previous evening, well, noon, popped up in her head.

She came from the observation room and was so tired that at the very sight of the large bed, everything she'd been planning to do, shower, brushing her teeth, just disappeared and all she could do was unlace her boots and strip down the BDU pants and shirt before yanking away the bedspread and collapsing onto the bed.

Sam's eyes fell to the boots arranged next to the bed and a pile of neatly folded clothes that she'd thrown onto the floor the day before. So not just the folder, she thought with a wry smile. Sam sighed, stood up and headed for the shower.

A good half-hour later, she strode out of the door in direction of the commissary, wearing a clean BDU and a particularly content smile, the folder tucked under her arm. Smiling at everyone who crossed her way, even the ever grumpy Airman behind the food counter, she made her way to a table in the far corner of the commissary.

Sam set her tray, overflowing with food, carefully on the table and sat down, reaching for a steaming mug of black tea. She wasn't in the mood for either coffee or herbal tea, so plain black tea seemed like a nice compromise. Her stomach rumbled loudly and Sam realized that she was starving. She put the mug back on the table, grabbed a roll and eagerly sunk her teeth into it, not bothering by putting anything, not even butter on it.

When she was finished with her rather large first course, which was only about five minutes later, she finally opened the folder. As Sam had expected, it was SG-5's report on their short mission to P7Y 248 as well as an abridgement of Colonel O'Neill's interrogation of Mark Bishop. Sam took a sip of her tea and started reading.

Apparently, the two officers were on a standard reconnaissance mission with their team, but everything went FUBAR when they encountered enemy troops. They fell back to the 'gate and dialed Earth, two of their team managed to escape, but as Captain O'Brien was running for the 'gate, she took a hit to her leg. Colonel Bishop went to get her and when they went through the 'gate, something must have gone terribly wrong, because not only did they end up on a completely different planet, but also went some thirty years back in time. They tried to make contact with Earth, but received no response. So they made camp in the nearby forest, deciding to try again the next day. In the morning, however, they were found by SG-5, who'd been performing a standard recon of their own and the rest was history.

Sam closed the folder and glanced at her watch, she only had five minutes till the briefing started. Finishing up her now cold tea, Sam stood up, grabbed the folder and headed out of the commissary.

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_Thanks for reading, if you liked it, please, press that Review button and let me know :) I'll try to post Chapter 3 ASAP._


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: **Alright, here's the long-awaited Chapter 3. It was really hard for me to write, that's part of the reason why it took so long to post. Also, I reuploaded Chapter 2 because it really had paraghraphing from hell. Hope it's better now. One last thing, I'd like to apologize if there are any physicists out there reading this. I do a lot of research for my fics but since I'm not really good at physics and math, it is possible that there are some scientific inconsistencies. Blame it on the author's license ;-)_

_Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 3**

In the corridor just outside the briefing room door, Sam nearly ran into Captain O'Brien who was moving awkwardly on a pair of crutches, followed by a rather worried Colonel Bishop. Sam observed absently that with her light brown hair tied back into a short pony tail, the Captain looked more like a college student than an Air Force officer and not even the green BDU she was wearing could really do anything to change that. Sam gave both officers a nod of acknowledgement and slid into the room. Greeting Daniel and Teal'c, she seated herself into her usual chair next to Colonel O'Neill.

"Morning, Carter," O'Neill greeted her and when she responded with a wide grin, he added with a wry smile. "Sleep well, did ya?"

Sam felt her lips form a megawatt Carter smile, the one she saved for the Colonel only, and replied playfully. "Yes, sir."

A mischievous spark appeared in the Colonel's eyes as he locked hers and held them. Anything and everything Sam was about to say was quickly forgotten, as her entire world reduced into the pair of deep, chocolate colored and wonderfully sparkling eyes and the man they belonged to.

Finally, Sam lowered her gaze, breaking the connection, and tried to regain control of her emotions, hoping that the blush she felt creeping up her cheeks was faint enough to go unnoticed by other people in the room. She exhaled deeply. Lifting her head to face him again, Sam noticed that his eyes never left her face. O'Neill gave her a rueful smile, which she returned. Just as Sam was about to say something, General Hammond walked into the briefing room.

All of the military personnel in the room snapped to attention, accompanied by the rather annoying noise of chairs being moved across the concrete floor. All of them, that was, with the exception of Captain O'Brien, who made an effort to stand up, only to stop mid-motion, wincing with pain, and slump back into the chair with a look of poorly concealed exasperation on her face. Sam couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the sight of the expression which would have been much more fitting for a pouting four-year-old than a trained military officer.

"As you were," the General said and waited for everyone to sit down before he continued. "I have called this meeting to determine how and why our visitors ended up here and, more importantly, how to get them back to their time," Hammond paused and then turned to Sam. "Major Carter?"

She sighed. Here they were again, asking her to come up with a working theory when she barely knew what had happened in the first place. _Suck it up, Major!_ Sam mentally scolded herself, kicking back into military mode. She turned to face the General and replied thoughtfully, camouflaging her momentary hesitation.

"Well, sir, at this point, there are just too many unknowns," she decided that buying herself some time by reminding them all of the obvious truth was her best tactics. "I mean, of course we could assume that the wormhole passing close to a solar flare caused the matter stream to travel backwards in time, like it did when we returned to 1969, but..."

"But the fact that the jump occurred in time as well as in space suggests there were others factors at work here," O'Brien finished the sentence from her seat across the table and the delicate arch of her eyebrows furrowed, creating a thoughtful crease right at the root of her nose.

Everyone in the room was staring at her quizzically, everyone including Sam, but thanks to her scientific mind which allowed her to concentrate on more than one problem at a time, she was able to maintain a coherent train of thought. "Yes, _Captain_," she stressed out the younger officer's rank, the kid may have been from the future but she was still a junior officer and Sam didn't like to be interrupted. _No matter how right she may be,_ a small voice in the back of Sam's head added. "I was just about to say that."

O'Brien looked down for a moment but didn't back away, instead, she met Sam's eyes squarely. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, perhaps I should have mentioned that I have a degree in theoretical astrophysics," her tone was polite, but definitely not apologetic.

"Oh, great, another egghead," Colonel O'Neill mumbled, making himself center of everyone's attention. Sam was too busy glaring at him aggrievedly to notice that the Captain chuckled dryly in response to his remark. O'Neill shrugged innocently in Sam's direction and she continued.

"Anyway, since there was no mention of alien devices of any kind in your report," she turned to Colonel Bishop and then to Captain O'Brien for confirmation. "We can at least rule that one out."

"Well, _Ma'am_," O'Brien emphasized the honorific. "There were no signs of alien technology on P9M 778, the planet we originally visited," the young Captain clarified, noticing everyone's confused looks. "But that doesn't mean that some alien device couldn't have operated from another location. We've seen..." she stopped mid-sentence, then sucked in a breath and continued. "Never mind. My point is, if the electro-magnetic field of a solar flare can cause the wormhole to jump back in time, then..."

"Then maybe a strong enough burst could cause it to jump in space as well!" Sam finished, her eyes sparkling as she realised the impact this might have on their understanding of wormhole physics. "Good thinking, Captain."

The young Captain's only acknowledgement of the praise was a hint of a lopsided smile twitching the corner of her mouth. "The question is, what could have been the source of such a strong EM burst. Even if we rule out alien influence, there are still a number of possibilities," the Captain theorised, her face brightening as she started thinking out loud. "A pulsar could emit a powerful enough EM field but..."

"But those bursts occur periodically, so it's likely you would have experienced the effect before," Sam finished O'Brien's sentence. The kid was brilliant. "So what could emit an incredibly strong EM burst all of a sudden...." Sam trailed off, listing possibilities in her head.

"A supernova!" Both women suddenly exclaimed in unison. Sam's blue eyes met O'Brien's dark brown, their faces mirroring each other's excitement.

General Hammond cleared his throat. Sam had been so engulfed in this scientific puzzle that she had completely forgotten about her surroundings, therefore she'd missed everyone's confused looks at the exchange she had just had with the other physicist.

"Major, are you confident you can figure this out?"

Sam glanced across the table at Captain O'Brien. The young woman raised her eyebrows and shrugged, ducking her head to one side.

"Yes, sir. We'll figure it out."

The General nodded sharply. "Good, then I temporarily remove SG-1 from mission rotation until you get to the bottom of this. Teal'c will be assigned to SG-3, Doctor Jackson will be working with the linguistic department on the translation of the Ancient tablet and you, Colonel," he pointed at Jack, "will catch up on your paperwork."

"Yes," the Colonel mouthed, gesturing with one hand.

Everyone including the General decided to ignore O'Neill's antics. "Very well. Dismissed."

General Hammond then stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the officers standing in attention. Daniel apologized himself and hurried out of the briefing room, eager to start his work on the translation of the tablet that held the location of the Lost City of the Ancients.

Teal'c walked over to where Sam and the Colonel were standing. "I am confident you shall unravel this mystery shortly, Major Carter," he nodded towards Sam.

"Sure we will," Captain O'Brien confirmed with a smile as she neared their position.

Colonel O'Neill shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet. "Well then, I'll leave you rocket scientists to it," his eyebrows were in constant motion. "I have an important appointment with my... desk."

Sam smiled at him. "Yes, sir."

"Yes," he echoed. "Major," he nodded towards Sam, who nodded back with an encouraging smile. "Captain," he turned to O'Brien, who shifted uncomfortably on her crutches and gave a brief nod, not meeting his eyes.

The Colonel then turned to leave. Teal'c bowed his head with a polite smile and followed O'Neill out of the room.

Sam turned to O'Brien. "Okay, Captain, we better get to work."

The young woman smiled faintly. "Yep. Work it is."

They headed out of the room when suddenly the Captain stopped and tlooked back. Sam followed her example and saw Colonel Bishop still standing by the briefing room table. She noticed the Captain's raised eyebrow and the Colonel's barely perceptible nod in response.

"I'll be in the gym," he said, gesturing vaguely.

The Captain nodded and headed for the door. Sam made a few long steps to catch up. "I'll show you the way."

O'Brien chuckled. "Thanks."

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_That's it for now and quite possibly also for the nearest future, since my high school finals are approaching rapidly. I'm sorry if this chapter was kind of slow but it was neccessary, the next one should be better :-) _

_As always, feedback of any kind is appreciated!_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:** Finally, here we go with Chapter 4. We're about halfway through, depends on my Muse and her whims. I guess that's it for today's author's note, I'm drained. Disclaimer and all that jazz applies as usual. Hope you enjoy this chapter!  
_

_Read on!_

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**Chapter 4**

Sam input yet another set of coordinates into the computer, pressed the Start button and took a step back as a simulation began to play out on the monitor. She stood next to Captain O'Brien and both women watched anxiously as a simulated wormhole connected two gates, then one of the surrounding stars exploded, sending out a massive EM pulse which was represented by a series of circles emanating from the point of the explosion. Sam felt rather than saw the young woman next to her stiffen as the circles neared the line representing the subspace conduit. A prayer ran through her mind when the EM pulse collided with the wormhole. For a millisecond that seemed like ages, nothing happened and then… the line disappeared.

O'Brien hit the table with her fist and muttered something that Sam recognized to be a rather colorful goa'uld curse.

"I'm sorry," Sam said apologetically and stepped forward to turn off the monitor.

'_SIMULATION FAILURE' _the screen announced in bright red letters. Yeah, like they didn't already know that. Sam hit the Off button, probably with a little more force than necessary. As brilliant as Captain O'Brien's supernova hypothesis had been, it had also, unfortunately, been incorrect. This simulation had been the last in a long line of failed scenarios and after two days of work (their work time was severely restricted by doctor Fraiser who would barge in every five or so hours, insisting that the Captain gets some rest), they appeared to be nowhere nearer the solution to this time travel mystery than in the beginning. Rather the contrary, actually.

"Yeah, so am I," O'Brien remarked dryly.

Sam took two empty mugs from the workbench and walked over to the coffee machine Daniel had given her for her last birthday and which now held an honorable place on one of the counters in the back of her lab. She poured them full of the dark liquid and handed one to the Captain. The younger woman accepted it silently and rested her back against the workbench, letting out a quiet hiss of pain as she accidentally nudged the table with her injured leg. Sam followed her example, mirroring her pose. She wrapped her fingers around the mug, more out of habit than actual desire for warmth, since the coffee was far from fresh brewed.

O'Brien took a sip of the coffee and grimaced. "Wow, this is… Uh, no offence, Major, but this coffee is…" she paused, looking for the right word.

Sam chuckled. "I know, but, well, it's better than running to the commissary every time I need a refill."

Now it was the Captain's turn to chuckle. "It's good to know some things never change."

For a moment, Sam contemplated whether there was something more to the younger woman's remark. It was not as though she'd made a tremendous revelation, but her tone was… Sam didn't really know what it was, she just had a weird feeling.

O'Brien noticed her hesitation and added with a small smile. "Future or not, Major, caffeine is still the driving force of the SGC."

"Daniel will be pleased to hear that."

"I'm sure he will," O'Brien said with a smirk.

They stood in silence, sipping their coffee and Sam considered their options. She knew they had to find a way to send the two officers back to their time and the sooner they did, the better, but that wasn't possible without knowing the cause. The problem was that there seemed to be no obvious naturally occurring phenomenon that would explain what had happened. It had of course occurred to her that there may have been an unnatural factor at work, namely an enemy weapon of some sort, one so powerful that it could actually make the wormhole cross time and space simultaneously. She even considered asking Captain O'Brien about it, but decided not to, since she would probably not receive an answer.

Suddenly, O'Brien broke the silence. "You know what the most frustrating thing about this is?" she asked, gesturing carefully with her mug.

Having figured that the question was rhetorical, Sam waited for the younger woman to continue. "That I know of at least two reasonably complicated ways to get us back," the Captain finished with a sigh.

Sam nodded sympathetically. As a physicist, she understood that the risk of changing the timeline by introducing any technology or methods that had yet to be invented was too great. In fact, she had been faced with a similar problem several years before when SG-1 got stranded in 1969.

"Don't worry, Captain, we'll figure it out," she said with an encouraging smile.

O'Brien's dark eyes met Sam's, her expression serious except for the barest hint of a smile twitching the left corner of her lips as she mouthed: "Yeah."

A sharp rap on the door had Sam jumping, just as Colonel Bishop popped his head in.

"Hello there, ladies, have you figured it out yet?" he asked with a smile.

Sam was perplexed at being called a 'lady' by a superior officer and before she had time to answer, Captain O'Brien spoke.

"As a matter of fact, we have, several hours ago. So now we're just kicking back, reveling in our success," she deadpanned, her face and tone flawlessly serious. If Sam didn't know better, she'd have bought it without hesitation.

Bishop seemed to play along. "Good, then I'm sure you won't mind if we join you for the party," he said, his smile widening as Teal'c's muscular form appeared behind him.

Both men stepped in and the Jaffa laid a tray he carried onto the table. It contained four servings of dessert; a slice of apple-pie, a cup of chocolate ice-cream, a small bowl of fruit salad and a glass of blue jell-O.

Sam smiled gratefully at Teal'c and received a little nod in return. She noticed the Captain's grin as she reached for the pie without hesitation. The Colonel procured a small fork from his pocket and handed it to the younger officer.

"Thanks, sir" O'Brien smiled again and eagerly sunk her fork into the dessert.

Sam took the jell-O and accepted a spoon from Bishop, Teal'c chose the ice-cream, while Bishop went for fruit salad. As the Major took the first mouthful, she felt the Captain's suspicious dark eyes on her.

"What?"

The younger woman shrugged. "I don't know how you can eat that stuff," she pointed at the glass with a forkful of pie.

Sam briefly examined the blue contents of her next spoonful and then shoved it resolutely into her mouth. "It's good, I like it."

O'Brien scoffed. Sam decided it was time for a change of topic, she'd had the jell-O vs. pie argument one too many times.

She turned to Bishop. "So, what have you been up to, Colonel?"

She shrugged. "I've been spending a lot of time in the gym. If anything, this little trip is good for my shape, I don't think I've worked out this much since the Academy."

"Colonel Bishop and I have engaged in sparring sessions on several occasions," Teal'c confirmed. "He is a skilled warrior."

"Thank you, Teal'c."

The Jaffa bowed his head slightly in response. Sam contemplated that statement for a moment. Teal'c wasn't one to give praise to just someone, if he considered the military man a worthy opponent, his skills must have been extraordinary. From personal experience Sam knew that he often combined Earth and Jaffa moves in hand-to-hand combat in order to confuse the enemy. Perhaps in the future, that was also included in training. She was dying to ask but then she noticed a mischievous spark in Captain O'Brien's eye and the tiniest of smiles playing on her lips.

But before Sam could say anything, O'Brien spoke. "What about you, Teal'c? Any news on your front?"

"There is little news on my front, Captain O'Brien. My mission with SG-3 was unsuccessful, P4A 459 was conquered by Anubis," the Jaffa answered grimly.

Sam's heart sank, Anubis's forces conquered one world after another in search of the Lost City of the Ancients. As far as they knew, he hadn't had much success but his power was greater than ever before.

"Let's hope Daniel has more luck with the tablet," she said quietly.

"I visited Daniel Jackson in his office, he appears to have encountered an obstruction on the street."

O'Brien chuckled. "Hit a road block, Teal'c." She sobered. "He's been at it for days. Literally. Doesn't he ever take a break?"

"No, that's our Daniel," Sam answered, "once he gets started, he doesn't stop until he either finds a solution or blacks out on the table from exhaustion."

Bishop smirked. "Reminds me of someone," he remarked with a meaningful look at the Captain.

She ignored him and said with a smirk of her own tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Perhaps he just hasn't been properly… stimulated… yet," she chewed on her pie thoughtfully and a lopsided grin slowly graced her lips.

_What the hell is that about?_ Sam thought aggrievedly. Granted, ever since he'd descended from the higher plane of existence, Daniel had seemed a little… lethargic. Come to think of it, he'd been that way off and on ever since the death of his wife, Sha're, but who was this woman to judge that? Furthermore, she could not imagine Daniel letting anything or any_one_ get in the line of his work. He could concentrate and become so engulfed in whatever he was doing that even Sam envied him sometimes. No, there was no way that she knew of that Daniel's concentration and patience could be disturbed. Nothing that she'd encountered. But that didn't mean the possibility wasn't there. Maybe she didn't need to know the cause after all. Sam's mind started racing.

"I've got an idea!"

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_Thank you for making me happy by reading this story. Now, if you want to make me even happier, please hit that lovely 'Review' button and share your thoughts with me ;-) Thank you again!_


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